musings and meditations from an ordinary husband, father, and pastor seeking to follow Christ

what is salvation? rescue from the presence of sin (sermon redux)

Salvation is being rescued from the presence of sin. Now this is pretty easy to explain and the easiest to think about, because we are talking about heaven. The Christian hope is that one day, we don’t know when, he takes us to heaven, and there will be no suffering, no sickness, no sorrow, no death, no poverty, no hunger, nothing bad. This is heaven. And if you read the book of Revelation, the very end, you will see this.

Now, here’s the thing: when most people think about salvation, that’s where they stop. Salvation is being rescued from God’s judgment (forgiveness) and going to heaven. That’s what they emphasize. When churches preach the gospel, that’s what they focus on. And while that’s good, and perhaps gets the most important parts, it’s just not enough. It’s missing something. It doesn’t say all that there is about salvation.

What’s missing? Well, think about how I described heaven. No hunger, no pain, no sorrow, no death, no ignorance, no fighting, no poverty. Let me ask you this question: what atheist, agnostic, Satanist, hedonist, doesn’t want that too? Everybody wants that. What is distinctively Christian about that vision of heaven I just gave you? Nothing. Every person you know will sing for joy when you describe heaven like that?

But how did I word it? Salvation is being rescued from the presence of SIN … not just pain, not hunger, not injustice in the world, not ignorance, not even death – all of those are the results of sin … but heaven is heaven because no one will sin. And more so, this means complete access and fellowship with God, unhindered because there is no sin.

The question is this: does the prospect of never sinning again make your heart sing? Friend, do you ever sin and in brokenness find yourself crying out to God, longing for the day when you will never do that? And more importantly, does the prospect of unhindered, undiluted, unclouded, unadulterated, complete and total access to Jesus because you never sin, make your heart sing?

The reason I point that out, is because there is a third aspect of salvation that does not get the emphasis it should. And I’ll post that tomorrow. 🙂